Upgrading my computer’s primary storage from a hard disk (HDD) to a solid state drive (SSD). Really young folks on here have no idea how amazing it was for computers to go from taking minutes to start up to taking seconds.
Buying my first cell phone, which was a Nokia smartphone, in 2003. Having email and useful applications in my pocket, including maps and web search.
I feel like the sheer jump in performance from throwing an SSD into an old system was akin to what people would have expected from the “download more ram” scam ads of the 00s.
TBF, before win95 there was definitely legit software that you could buy (not download) that would compress memory, amongst other tricks, to effectively give you more RAM.
QEMM was the shit!
himem.sys
Really young folks on here have no idea how amazing it was for computers to go from taking minutes to start up to taking seconds
Pretty sure we don’t have such an young audience here on lemmy haha
Pretty sure one of the devs is still in high school.
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I upgraded mom’s PC from HDD to SSD, no regrets
I was thinking and nothing was to big a deal but you are right. ssd and before that optical mice were major upgrades relative to price (price being the factor when I finally bought them.)
I find that my M.2 SSD (with Win 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC) is weirdly slower at booting up than my SATA SSD (Win 10 Pro) was. I’m not sure why, since the hard drive itself should be faster. BIOS itself seems to be slower.
I also can’t currently get it to even start if I have a hard drive plugged into the power supply and any of the SATA slots on the motherboard. IDK why. It reads the hard drives when I have them plugged in to an external bay and connected with a USB cable. It’s super-frustrating. I’ll try a SATA SSD and see if I have the same problem. If so, then I guess I’m stuck using M.2 drives. :(
You may have an issue with the boot order in your bios. Might be worth looking into. Your bios may try to boot from every other device connected to it before it tries the M2 SSD.
There’s literally nothing else connected to it though; no USB drives, no other hard drives, etc. When I tried to plug in my old 2tb 7200rpm drives from my last computer, it wouldn’t even power on to boot up.
Doesn’t matter, it will still scan for those devices
With encryption it still takes a bit, but I love the silence.
A goddamn dishwasher. I used to wash a lot of dishes by hand growing up so it took until my 30’s before i realized that dishwashers are a wonderful invention.
GPS was life-changing. (Yes, I am that old.) It used to be necessary to find printed maps of wherever you were going, which wasn’t always easy. Then you had to figure out a route. The hardest part was often the last bit of the trip, since you weren’t likely to have a detailed map of your destination city. An if you got lost, figuring out where you were was sometimes quite difficult.
People tend to think of it as mostly affecting longer trips, but finding new addresses in a city was at least as much of an issue. When I lived in the bay area I had a Thomas guide that was 3/4" of an inch thick, just for finding my way around town.
I worked as a delivery driver before GPS.
If you think looking at your phone while driving is dangerous, we were looking at a folding paper map.
I also had most streets in a major metropolitan area memorized.
But more times than I can count I navigated by the sun or the north star until I was back in an area I recognized.I gather that to get a London cab license you have to pass a test that requires you to know pretty much every street, alley, and major building in the city. I can’t imagine how long it would take to get all of that into your head.
MapQuest ftw! Did so many car trips that way.
Got lost so many times that way.
Better pray sweat/drink condensation/ANY moisture doesn’t get on that map, otherwise you’re toast!
I got lost leaving prom because I’d only had my license less than a year and didn’t know major highways. The printed instructions were illegible at night without your cabin light on, and that was dangerous too!
My first “GPS trip” was using Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 on DVD-ROM with USB GPS adapter, with my WinXP laptop in the front seat powered by a 12v inverter from Radio Shack.
A buddy of mine was still doing this in 2015
3-5 minutes to catch a signal. Ahhh, those were the
goodold days.
First time I ever saw in-car GPS was arrive 2003 when I was hitchhiking in Japan. Heading the car just give directions was mind-blowing; it was like being in a William Gibson novel.
This. Going from pace notes to GPS navigation for delivery was a big improvement. Then going from laptop in the seat to in-dash nav (chinese head unit contoured to fit the car) was the next level. Now, we have android auto/apple carplay, the final evolution. AI voice command is so much better than trying to type on a touchscreen while driving
GPS and navigation was a life changing thing for me as I am, how shall I put it, geographically challenged.
Give me the option of turning left or right and I will constantly choose wrong. I tested this with my family, who thought I was being dramatic and hyperbolic, and they witnessed my failures in all glory. Since then I am no longer allowed to ‘just wing it’ when we are on route…
I can’t left or right, but am well centered in North, South, East, West and can give directions like that. Those stay put. I hate navigation software though, the ones that talk at you, hate so much. Would rather get lost, usually, but have lived in the same city a long time and always know where north is.
I don’t think I could ever go back to a single monitor setup. Screen real estate is ALWAYS at a premium. I feel so constrained when forced to use just one.
Wireless noise cancelling headphones and earbuds.
I was reluctant to pay $400 for a gimmick but holy shit, once I did they became my most treasured possessions. Then I got buds for $400.
If we are talking cost per hour of use, they might be the most cost-effective tech I own
Internal SSD with the operating system on it. No other upgrade I’ve made to my PC has ever been so substantial.
I have my OS on an NVMe drive and it’s one of the best decisions I made when building.
But the jump from SATA SSD to nvme is much less noticeable than the one from HDD to SATA SSD
HDD, SSD and NVMe all have different versions. Later generations are normally 2x faster than previous version. Comparable generations are normally an 8x speedup. (Later generations are in parentheses).
HDD to SSD is like 80(160)->300(600).
SSD to NVMe is 300(600)->2400(4800, 14000).So, it’s likely a similar upgrade, unless you did HDD-g1 to SSD-g2 to NVMe-g1 (using G1/G2 to simplify).
It’s also likely possible that your computer is running so fast that a doubling or quadrupling in speed is a diminishing return as you don’t notice the difference.
Bidet attachment for a toilet. Absolute life changer.
Hell yeah bidet.
Ah, a person of culture. A most pristine brown eye.
It’s sad how there are people out there who look down on the bidet. It really is a game changer. I still use toilet paper, but the process is so much cleaner and easier.
When putting it in, an older family friend (male) asked me, “oh you got that for your lady friend?” No…I want to save money and have a cleaner experience as a male.
Wait you have to put it in?
I have the “portable” kind where you can just put it under the toilet seat you have and it connects to your toilet’s water system that brings in water. It was about $30 off Amazon.
It is really straightforward, but my issue was that after I installed it, I had unknowingly unscrewed one of the components in the toilet and it was leaking and I needed some help to figure that out and get it fixed correctly. It was when I was screwing in the new T shaped pipe that it was unscrewing something in the toilet.
There are also the kind that can come built in a toilet, usually on the higher end toilets, or you can get one of the dedicated bowls that is like a secondary toilet seated next to your toilet too.
A wrench and a screwdriver. That’s all you need
I hate bidet hate. If I upend a bowl full of brownie batter on a shag carpet, I’m not going to “clean” it with dry paper towels. Use your heads, people!
The downside to installing a bidet is I now hate pooping without the home court advantage.
Truth, it ruins you for all the other toilets.
Any recommendations?
Heated water and heated seat are fucking amazing if you got extra budget
Nah. Anything on Amazon should be fine
Lighting system as a wake up tool.
Have now been using a light or lighting system as a morning wake up for over 15 years. It’s life changing.
Lights start off dim and red/orange, and brighten very slowly to warm white. Works every time.
I wake up without the jolt of an alarm at home.
In fact - automated lighting in general - just so good.
Does corrective eye surgery count? Because it fundamentally changed my daily quality of life
Surprised nobody has mentioned a computer yet, so mine is going from a $200 dell optiplex I saved up for to a ~$3,000 gaming rig my parents convinced the government to buy me.
The government had a $5,000 thing to parents with autistic children (diagnosed before the age of 10) and they could spend it on stuff that would help the child. They had to fight tooth and nail to convince them that it would let me play games with my friends (a total lie, I only played Minecraft and terraria then). They surprised me with it on my birthday I think 5 years ago and it was AMAZING.I’ve spent nearly every dollar I’ve earned in the past 5 years improving my setup and game library.
Oh. And a high quality Bluetooth mouse. I used a Glorious Model O (for Minecraft 1.8 pvp) since it came out and used it till the battery only lasts a day or two, also I wanted more buttons. Only 6 months ago have I switched to a g502x and I went like 3 weeks without charging it. Its amazing.
I bought a 2080ti for $1200 right before covid and everyone gave me shit about how I was wasting my money because the 3000 series had a lower MSRP which then ballooned to $2000+.
So while everyone else was struggling to get a graphics card due to supply chain issues and prohibitive costs, I was gaming in 4k resolution throughout the pandemic. To say that this was clutch during a time I couldn’t really do much outside of the house with other people would be a massive understatement.
I usually would not have spent that much on a card, but I won a hackathon cash prize right before so had some money burning a hole in my pocket. The card is still going strong and is still my daily driver, so I can’t say it’s been a bad purchase at all.
Electric blanket!
It’s not high tech, but it’s so good.
Bidet. Not even the fancy ones. Like the cheap ones that are no more than $20-30. Every poop, I’ve got a squeaky clean butthole.
Totally agree; I hate pooping without it. Though I did upgrade a while back from a $20-30 one to this: https://luxebidet.com/pages/neo-185-plus-highlights
I took the old one off to really clean it and that sold me on this new flip up one.
I clicked on this thinking it was going to be a link to one of the $200+ electric models, but this is actually a relatively inexpensive upgrade I can get behind (pun?) It looks like it’s a lot easier to keep clean. Thanks for this.
I got a couple of these about two years ago. They work great and we’ve had no trouble with them. 10/10
I’ve been using simple cold water models for over 10 years now. But I really like this upgrade in design. Same basic simplicity, but it looks a lot easier to keep clean.
Almost never having to cram paper in between my buttcheeks is fucking heaven. No more shit smears!
Fitting username.
haha!
As someone with a currently chapped asshole, squeaky is not the kind of clean you want for it.
Used one for the first time recently. Seriously considering getting one of my own.
That’s what happened to me. Used one for the first time at a hotel — bought one not long after and will never go back. Got like a $30 one and am still using it over 4 years later. I’ll probably upgrade when I have the extra money, realizing just now how long it’s been since I got it
A countertop water boiler, I have one of the Zojirushi 4 liter units. It turns out I drink 3/4 of a gallon of tea or so per day. So not having to boil a kettle for every round is oddly luxurious.
I usually microwave a mug for 1.5 minutes, but this could also be nice
Are you from the US?
I remember Technology Connections doing an episode on the Electric kettle. Its fascinating. Microwaving is still the fastest around the house, but I like being able to make more than one cup at a time.
I actually did a little research and apparently it’s sacrosanct to a Britton to even suggest heating water in a microwave.
I think you mean “Sacrilege” or maybe “Sacrilegious.” That means “The violation of something sacred.”
Sacrosanct means “sacred and beyond question,” which is related, but kind of the opposite of what you mean.
You’re 100% correct.
You are correct. I had a British coworker. He gave me the fish eye when I did it the first time. I personally don’t care as long as it gets hot.
What?
And they are super efficient, and insulated. If you have the counter space it’s a good kitchen tool.
Maybe I’m just tired, but I’m struggling to think of other uses in the kitchen beyond just a warm beverage? Maybe for instant noodles or warming a bottle?
I have one close to this and it’s been amazing. Great Christmas gift idea too.
A 1000€ ebike. Best choice ever. Always on time, unaffected by traffic and never get tickets since I don’t have a registration table :)
